Sunday, 14 October 2012

Self-Confessed Pervert Escapes Prosecution Through Loop Hole

A mid-air pervert has escaped with no charges, due to a loop hole in Japanese law.

The so-called "Peeping Tom", used a pen-shaped camera to take an upskirt shot of a cabin attendant during a domestic flight from Takamatsu (in the southwest of the country) to Tokyo last month.

However the Japan Airlines passenger got away scot free after prosecutors failed to decide "which prefecture the plane was flying over at the time".

The 34-year-old man reached out from his seat, with a micro-camera concealed in his hand and took the picture of the flight attendant.

When he was arrested by police, he actually admitted what he had done, saying that he was "aroused by uniforms".

At first, the police had determined the photo was taken over the western prefecture of Hyogo. This was based on eye-witness accounts and after analysis of flight data.
But prosecutors decided that they were actually unable to rule out (without benefit of doubt) that the photo may have been taken when the plane was over other nearby prefectures.

Under Japanese legislation, such an offence falls under prefecture-level law to "prevent public nuisances and their applications" and require prosecutors to state the exact location of the crime.